The completion of deviated wellbores in oil and gas reservoirs with an aqueous gravel pack fluid, such as halide brine, is a successful sand control practice. Some wellbore applications, however, are not technical candidates for brine transported gravel because water-sensitive shale can become destabilized via hydration and interfere with gravel placement. Gravel packs with “invert emulsion” carrier fluids, or water-in-oil emulsion fluids, have been suggested because the external phase of invert emulsion fluids prevents shale hydration effects, thereby preventing destabilization.
Unfortunately, attempts to gravel pack with invert emulsion systems have formed gravel packs that were relatively loose and unpredictable after the gravel pack operation with respect to their ability to control formation sand after the gravel pack fully settled in the wellbore.